The Highest Ethical Standards

President Obama entered the White House pledging to hold his employees to the highest ethical standards. Most employers say something like that in a code of business conduct. As the Obama administration and many employers demonstrate all the time, the highest ethical standards are apparently unknowable or unattainable.

Bill Richardson, Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce, bit the dust first. Though Tim Geithner was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury, his failure to pay income taxes almost did him in. Somehow, Eric Holder was confirmed as Attorney General, despite serious questions about his judgment and independence while a member of the Clinton Justice Department — this on the heels of a Bush Justice Department roundly criticized by Obama and countless others for poor judgment and no independence. Had Geithner and Holder been nominated by George W. Bush, they would have been tarred and feathered.

Now, Tom Daschle, nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Nancy Killefer, Obama’s choice for chief White House performance officer, have withdrawn their nominations because of Geithner-like tax problems. At first, Obama stood behind all these nominees and expressed sadness and regret over having to accept any of the nomination withdrawals. These people made mistakes, he said. After the Daschle nomination’s problems began to sink in, the President had a change of heart.

“I’ve got to own up to my mistake, which is that ultimately it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes. And so, I’m frustrated with myself, with our team, but ultimately my job is to get this thing back on track because what we need to focus on is a deteriorating economy and getting people back to work. I’m here on television saying I screwed up and that’s part of the era of responsibility.”

The President has a way with words. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t say them earlier. When Obama recently criticized Wall Street CEOs for taking huge bonuses, he didn’t say they made a mistake. He said what they did was shameful. More shameful than having a Secretary of the Treasury who didn’t pay thousands of dollars in taxes until he was nominated for the job and got caught? Maybe. Maybe not. Putting shame aside, however, it’s pretty astounding that the head of Treasury was a tax evader shortly before he was confirmed as Secretary.

It’s too bad that the “two sets of rules” logic didn’t occur to the President before the Senate voted on Geithner. But at least, he finally came around. Whether Obama is now sincere or just got caught himself remains to be seen. Until his recent mea culpa, he was teetering on the brink of losing credibility on his promise of change and no more business as usual in Washington. I suspect he’ll be watched closely now to see whether his “era of responsibility” was just a clever phrase or something meaningful.

It’s not too much for any CEO to demand the highest ethical standards of his or her employees. It apparently is almost too much to mean it. When a leader blows his call for ethics, it’s better to admit a “screw-up” than to remain the emperor who’s wearing no clothes. If the President stays clothed now, he can teach employers much needed lessons on the need for exemplary ethical principles.

1. 

   Privacy says:

   June 20, 2009 at 1:53 pm

   Interesting Article. Thanks for the read!